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I think the marines still use it because of their price tag. A Ah-1z costs $10,700,000, while a AH-64A is about $14,500,000 million and our export AH-64D cost $56,250,000 meening that their normal price tag probably isn't bellow $30,000,000. The Ah-1z is still a great and effective chopper, so why get rid of it.

actually, I've heard an arguement that there isnt even much of a reason for the Kiowa...

I had an electronics eng class at a trade school when i was in high school (also had aeronautics, robotics, telecoms, and a few other things thrown in on the same teacher) - the teacher used to work on Apaches for a living, and argued that there was no purpose to the Kiowa, since you can outfit an Apache with recon gear, standardizing the inventory and saving money on parts, training, etc (same reason for going over to the J35 JSF)

True. THe thing is though the Kiowa is more flexible. You can transport two of them in a C-130 cargo plane. Not to mention its probably alot more conveinant to have a dedicated scout/attack helicopter rather than outfitting an Apache for the mission. In some sense, it probably more expendable too. I'm pretty sure it would cost more to lose a Kiowa over an Apache.

The OH-58 was originally designed to replace the Hughes OH-6A Loach scout helicopter (daddy of the M/AH-6 Littlebirds) during the latter days of the Vietnam War (was a poor substitute, my father served 2 tours with the 1/10th Air Cav on the OH-6 before they got replaced ). It became the Kiowa Warrior later when the D model was introduced with the mast mounted FLIR/DTV sight and various armament.

As for the USMC using the Cobra over the Apache, I believe it boils down to costs primarily. The AH-1 is a good bit cheaper and takes up less room on a carrier deck compared to an Apache. And when the USMC has F/A-18s and AV-8Bs they can skimp on their helo fleet...

Terranova wrote:True. THe thing is though the Kiowa is more flexible. You can transport two of them in a C-130 cargo plane. Not to mention its probably alot more conveinant to have a dedicated scout/attack helicopter rather than outfitting an Apache for the mission. In some sense, it probably more expendable too. I'm pretty sure it would cost more to lose a Kiowa over an Apache.

With the pricetag of an Apache i would say no to that. But dont the Brit's Longbow version do everythink by itself (is it 100% self relient).

The Commanche program was cancelled. No RL Commanche, no PR Commanche.